[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (17 Mar 2018) 13 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 17, 2018
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	3	21	21
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	3	23	23
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	0	0
Cooper's Hawk	2	8	8
Northern Goshawk	1	2	2
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	2	2
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	3	15	15
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	0	0
Merlin	1	1	1
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	1
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	13	73	73

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Margaret Reimann

Visitors:
The first weekend of the count brought 37 visitors to the site. A few more familiar faces from previous years, happy to have the hawkwatch underway. I was pleased be able to point out a young Bald Eagle to some excited kids this morning. Spectators and Eagles are like magnets of the same polarity, they just don't seem to want to come together. This confluence of events made me happy, as well as the youngsters. I received a nice gift of hand warmers which I might have to utilize tomorrow. Thank you.

Weather:
Hardly any amount of wind could be detected at the very start of the day. However, by the end of the first hour , things changed drastically. Brisk winds from the west northwest buffeted the summit with frequent and strong gusts. By late afternoon winds shifted slighty to the north. Temperatures remained cold and began to decline after noon, never reaching above 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Clouds increased with a passing cold front mid morning and quickly dispersed in the afternoon, revealing bright sunny skies. More heat distortion again today but overall good visibility.

Raptor Observations:
The earlier hours saw more migrants today, including our first falcon of the season, which was a Merlin. Like a typical Merlin, it didn't allow much time for admiration. Another Northern Goshawk was spotted dropping into the trees to the southwest of the mountain.

Non-raptor Observations:
Not a lot of avian air traffic today, although I did see a couple species which have not gone by the mountain yet, including Cedar Waxwings and Eastern Bluebirds. Northbound birds seen today included: 54 American Crows 24 Cedar Waxwings 14 European Starlings 4 Eastern Bluebirds

Predictions:
Tomorrow appears to be another unseasonably cold day with highs around 20. More northwest winds should be present but not quite as strong. Mostly sunny skies will be a welcome sight given the lower temps. Hitting double digits in the winds we experienced today, I'm optimistic about tomorrow.

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Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (freeportwildbird@yahoo.com)
Bradbury Mountain State Park information may be found at: www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/hawkwatch.asp
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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